Peters



NTED STATES PATENTGFFICE speciacaeion` of Letters Patent No. 26,665; dateduaauaryagiseo! j U v To all whom #may concern: j

Be it known that I, ARTHUR FoLsoM, of Boston, county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tunneling Rivers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and `exact description of the same, reference `being made to the annexed drawing, making a part of this specification which is fully described here in-that is to say, my invention is a method of constructing submarine tunnels for the passage of rivers or .other waterways without requiring excavation through the earth. This I accomplish by means of square cast iron tubes of the. size of the required passage and of such lengths as may be conveniently handled. The ends'of these are so arranged that they can be joined together beneath the water and form of themselves a water tight joint.` My plan contemplates the employment of a series of such tubes lying side by side and connected one to the other in such manner as to break joints, and -form several passages.

In Figure I is a perspective view of a se`- ries of tubes thus arranged and bound together as ready to be lowered into the water. At (a) are the tubes, cast of a square form. The bottom of each, if intended for rail road to pass through may have the rails also cast upon it. The weight is to be such as will e ect so much displacement of the water that the tubes will sink of themselves it be.

ing understood that the ends before letting down are closed with water tightbulk heads to beafterward removed. The manner of constructing is as follows: A plan and profile of the bed of the river at the place where the tunnel is to be laid across, having been obtained by soundings or otherwise, any sharp protuberances above a general level can either be removed by blasting or by` to be constructed upon it. Each ofthe.

lengths of cast iron tube for this portion is t made with one end tapered down, as at (b),

and the other end made enlarged in tapering form outward, as at (b), whereby theend `the separate tubes are brought to equaljj,

of one piece canzbeenteredltinto Itlatof ftlie piece` `which formsthe "continuation o tube. Agroove-ismade aroundvjthe j j part and 'a correspolidingoneintlreJ my f terior of the parttb) into this, leadmay "601. be poured to eit'ectthe locking ofthe partsQ@ 1j j together. If the tunnel is to be composedofgl` several tubes lying sidedby` side, `the places at which the joiningsware madeinfeachj;` should be so arranged as to breakjoints, andy` k i in the sides of each ajgroove should belcast j at (e) into whichbars of iron areplacedftoi act as coags whereby thevertical positions of both are made tocoincide, and keys;` (al) l. are put into appropriatevertical grooves.to'lO` secure them in `the direction of theirflength,j` The tubes are further bound `together byyf bands (f) keyed.tightlyjaroundatintervals l as shown. At eachfend`of3thelevelportionf j t 1 length, and are to be closed withtellporary" bulk heads of wood `or other suitable mate rial built up ,withinktheends ,Thegcon struction of theparts which aregtojjformtllej tunnel on the inclined portion ofthe bedfasj` at (a), is noweffected inylike manner."l` j The ends of,eaohyottheportions.neXtftot` j. the other, are to be made beveling, in algen-,` j l eral vertical direction, 1injorder thatylwhenlt. i j brought together in place lon the bottom ,of 418,5 the river they may makefagclose joint, asseen in Fi II.; At `thesefendsftheparte?arefen large since buttljointsfare to befmadeyan on the faces recesses `1 arejmadeintojwhic l j Packing 0f india flibberfr l@timeCanetlfralj can be put to make thel;joints tightfffInl` j j order to securethe joining of theendsofj` the parts there is aself-actmrr hooker latcl (e) hinged uponone enolgot` atube, Vandl j j catch (e) to receivethe hook on the` end `of95` i the opposite portion.` QA ,fixed `hook (g) is,` j secured permanentlyfto the bottom of a tube,` l there being a correspondingjnotchinlthebotfjl" f tom of the opposite tubefor it to takelinto` j The manner "of engaging and securing thelo 1 two `portions `together willfbevthusg "Ifheg j lower side of the endsof-j(c")is brought*to rest in the hooks. lof the portion. (c) jin.` the form` shown inthedotted lines in Fig.vII`

. and the whole is then readytobelloweredlto"` j the parts Will be rmly held together. The i bulkheads Within each of the ends may noW be taken out and a permanent joint be made by means of an interior fastening which consists of a sleeve or slip joint and is a piece of metal of the size of the interior of the tube; in fact, it is a short section of a tube, and is shown at (i). This is to be so placed as to cover the joint7 a part of it being Within each tube. To one it is bolted or riveted fast, but to the other it is bolted through slotted holes Which do not fit the bolt in the direction of the length of the tube 

